On April 24 the California State Republican Party endorsed Brian Dahle as their candidate for governor. Dahle currently represents California’s 1st Senate District. His wife, Megan Dahle, currently represents California’s 1st Assembly District, and on April 22, Megan Dahle’s Assembly committee transferred $40,500 to the state party.
The timing of this transfer gave rise to allegations that Megan Dahle purchased the party’s endorsement for her husband, but this is just one of many controversies in a state party that has never been more divided or more impotent. As of April 8, 2022, the electorate’s share of Republicans voters in California, at 23.9 percent of registered voters, has never been lower. The decline has been unrelenting; from 34.9 percent in 2002 to 34.6 percent in 2006, to 30.1 percent in 2010, to 28.6 percent in 2014, to 25.3 percent in 2018.
The evidence for the impotence of California’s Republican party is reflected in every metric that matters. Their representation in California’s congressional delegation is 10 out of 53, which at 19 percent does not even reflect their voter registration. Similar underachievement plagues their showing in the state legislature: 19 out of 80 seats in the assembly, 9 out of 40 seats in the state senate. Of the eight higher state offices – Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Controller, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Insurance Commissioner – not one is held by a Republican. Every one of these office holders are Democrats.
The endorsement of […] Read More
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